Rising to the challenge, one of the nymphs recited a bawdy limerick. Mirceo did laugh. Loudly.

Five . . . four . . . three . . . two—

Caspion appeared and lunged for Mirceo, tracing him in midair. Suddenly, they were outside the palace in the damp night. The rolling green hills all around were covered with dew. The waxing moon hung heavy above.

Caspion shoved him against the exterior wall, cracking the bricks. “I could kill you for this!”

Mirceo drawled, “Decided to get me alone all to yourself?” For the first time, he was attracted to a warrior who could overpower him, a Dacian, and make him submit. Surprisingly, that thought got Mirceo hard as stone.

Who knew?

Behind Caspion, a palace sentinel exited to check out the commotion, but Mirceo waved him away. Attention back on the demon, he said, “All you had to do was ask.”

_______

“You want to ruin everything I enjoy? Why?”

“When was the last time you enjoyed it?” the vampire demanded. “You took me from those females because you’re jealous of me with others!”

I . . . am.

How? When had this bone-deep possessiveness taken hold? “You called me your mate, but the day after your blooding, you’re right back in a brothel! Exactly as I’d expect.”

“Because I knew you’d be here, you lout, and I wanted to provoke you.” Moonlight shimmered over the vampire’s face and eyes. The black ring around his light irises grew, onyx overwhelming gray.

Spellbinding me.

Had Cas earned all his new strength only to be helpless against this male? Never. Cas snapped his fangs. His horns straightened, half in lust, half in fury.

Mirceo’s brows drew together. “Fuck, you get my cock hard when you go demonic.”

Cas growled. He watched in disbelief as his hands shot out to seize the vampire’s nape.

And then they were kissing, gnashing fangs, tongues tangling. Madness. How Cas had missed this madness! How much he hated it! His mind wasn’t wandering; he was hyperaware of every detail, dialed in to the vampire’s responses with a laserlike focus.

Never breaking their kiss, Mirceo reached down between them, fumbling with Cas’s fly. In the cool night, he shoved Cas’s pants to his knees. Then his own.

Cas jolted when heat seared him; their bared shafts had made contact. He hissed in a breath just as Mirceo lost his—they were even fucking breathing for each other!

Mirceo took both of their cocks into his hands, stroking them together. The sensations were unfamiliar. But so good.

He imagined what Mirceo’s length would look like pressed against his own, and couldn’t keep from bucking into the vampire’s iron grip.

Was that Mirceo’s pre-cum? Or my own?

Between kisses, the prince admitted, “You drive me insane with jealousy!”

Cas yanked Mirceo’s hair free of its queue, then threaded his fingers through the length. “Get used to jealousy—because once this fever passes tonight, I will be with females.”

Mirceo grazed a fang over Cas’s jugular. “I’ll never allow it.”

Cas tilted his head back and stared up at the sky. “And you think to stop me?”

“Every time you’re inside a female, I vow to the Lore I will be too.”

Another growl erupted from Cas’s chest. He peered down at Mirceo. “Then I’ll chain you up somewhere, leech. A prisoner for my use. Keep you as my shameful little secret.”

“If I say pretty please, sweetheart? Until that time, I won’t just retaliate with females, I’ll take males. Though I never have before, I will let males take me.”

A haze covered Cas’s vision. Another male claiming the prince’s virginity?

Mirceo read him so well, twisting the knife. “Whenever I fantasize about you and me, I’m usually the bottom, so I should get some experience.”

Bottom. Fucking. Sinking deep into the vampire’s sleekly muscled body.

Cas wrapped Mirceo’s hair around his fist. Voice unrecognizable, he bit out, “No. One. Takes. You.”

“No one but you?”

Cas could erase the vampire’s smirk with just one thrust.

“You once told me you hate tempering your strength during sex. I’m a blooded Dacian; I can handle anything you can imagine. Any filthy fantasy can be yours.”

I could bend him over, seize his pale hips, and shove into him right now. Mirceo would moan for it. I could give him my cum.

Cum? Would Mirceo break his seal?

Then Cas would have to accept this bond! “I will never fuck you,” he swore, even as he sank his claws into Mirceo’s bare ass. He’d never dared claw another.

The prince groaned. “Demon, more.”

Cas clutched him harder. They thrust and ground in a frenzy, and all the while Mirceo kept their shafts clenched together.

Heat spread. Friction burned, but Cas couldn’t get enough. “So godsdamned good!” His horns and cock ached. His . . . fangs. A demon male would bite his mate during the claiming. His gaze flicked to Mirceo’s neck.

The vampire noticed. “Want to leave your mark on me, beautiful? Claim me?”

“You can dream all you want; it will never happen.”

“I do dream about it. Today I stroked off while I imagined suckling your exquisite cock. In my fantasy, I took you so deep that your golden curls tickled my nose.” Mercy! “I didn’t stop until you went mindless. Till you lost all restraint and fucked me like a demon in his prime.”